Toon Talk: The Lion King IMAX/Large FormatPage 1 of 2

Kirby reviews the Christmas re-release of The Lion King exclusively on IMAX/Large Format.

Toon Talk
Disney Film & Video Reviews by Kirby C. Holt

(c) Disney

The Lion King
IMAX/Large Format EditionThe Mane Event

After my lackluster experience with the IMAX/Large Format Special
Edition of Beauty and the Beast earlier this year, I admit to harboring
reservations for the re-release of The Lion Kingin this format. Would this,
the most popular and successful animated film of all time, suffer the same fate as the
equally acclaimed Beauty, with its
normal-for-a-35mm-yet-glaringly-obvious-on-the-HUGE-screen-animation-flaws? (Click for the Toon Talk review of the Beauty and the
Beast Special Edition)

But all doubts have proved unfounded, for, with its stylized, all-animal
cast, this new, larger then life Lion really roars in this format, with all its
excitement, drama and fun enlarged along with the visuals. And most surprisingly,
considering how many times Ive seen this film and/or been exposed to it in all its
myriad forms (see Toon Talk Trivia, below), I felt like I was seeing it for the
very first time.

I dont need to recap the story of The Lion King here (talk
about preaching to the converted you know the drill: lion born, lion exiled, lion
returns, yada-yada-Hakuna-Matata ); this is the original, unaltered version of the
film (again, unlike Beauty, with its misguided additional musical number), albeit
with some retouching of the visuals (most notably in the lions facial whiskers,
which take on an almost hypnotic effect when theyre as large as you)
necessary for the transfer to 70mm.

Sure, there are some moments when the characters, usually when they are in
the back of the scene, take on a slightly warped, shrunk look; at one point, Simba looks
likes like a skinny rat running across the desert, for example. But the bulk of the
character animation in this film is done in close-ups or medium shots, so it is not as
distracting as was the case with Beauty, which suffered a lot in the relation
between the human-size characters and the smaller enchanted objects. And, of course, the
films original flaws in story (Scars inexplicable confession), voice acting
(the somewhat uninspired Matthew Broderick and Moira Kelly as the adult Simba and Nala)
and music (Can You Feel the Love Tonight has always felt rushed and/or
shoe-horned in to me) remain.

But from the moment you hear the first note of Lebo Ms soaring chant
and see that larger then life sun rise over the savannah (a sun that actually casts its
red glow over the audience), you will feel the goose bumps rise as well. And the
amazing Circle of Life sequence is, yes, just the beginning; as each major set
piece approaches (I Just Cant Wait To Be King, Be Prepared,
the harrowingly heartbreaking wildebeest stampede), you know it will be awesome in its
revitalized newness, refreshing in this bigness.

And besides, where else are you going to see an eight-story tall warthog?